LARGE-SCALE events such as the Olympics and the Jubilee can give the economy blips of growth but the overall picture is of a country that is going nowhere fast.

TWO devastating announcements, in Cumbernauld and Stirlingshire, amount to another 250 job losses in Scotland this weekend.

The Scottish jobless figure, at 7.3 per cent, looks slightly better than the overall UK figure but these statistics are no comfort for people looking at spending the rest of the year, or longer, on the dole.

This is real world evidence of the failure of George Osborne’s economic policies.

The grim reality of Osborne’s flatline Britain is announcements like these, which destroy people’s livelihoods in a few lines of corporate jargon.

Events like the Olympics and the Jubilee can give the economic engine blips of growth but the overall picture is of a country that is going nowhere fast.

In the US, where Barack Obama decided to use government money to support jobs and growth, the economy has grown four times faster than Britain in three years.

The US economy is now 3.2 per cent larger than its pre-2008 crisis peak. The UK economy is 2.6 per cent smaller.

What is galling is that all the pointers were heading in the right direction when Labour left office but Osborne and David Cameron pushed the needle into the red with deeper spending cuts and tax rises.

They promised this would secure recovery and make Britain a safe haven. They said it was the only credible plan to deal with the national debt and that we were all in this together. What tosh.

We’re in the longest slump in 100 years and they have no credible plan to get out of it except to hang on for a chink of growth in time for the next election.

How many more people will have to pay for the politics of failure with their jobs before then?

Better support

THE Daily Record’s Respect the Fans campaign has won backing from football supporters.

We want football fans to be put first – not last – when it comes to the big decisions. For years, supporters have been treated with contempt, their views ignored by politicians.

Forced into all-seated grounds they didn’t want, not allowed to enjoy a pint at the game, yet at the same time forced to shell out massive sums to see games.

This contempt for ordinary fans has turned watching football from a national obsession into a dying pastime.

Change has to come and come soon.

Fans are the lifeblood of the beautiful game. All they want is a little Respect.

That shouldn’t be too much to ask.

A real Rod neck

ONE DIRECTION'S Harry Styles has been out on the town with Rod Stewart.

Harry is a bit of a ladies man. But he was left blushing when Rod’s daughter Kimberly handed him a red rose.